Fruit-evaporator.



,PATENTED PEB. 26, 17907.

M. S. REATZ.

`FRUIT BVAPORATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1905.

No. 845,317. PATBNTED FEB. 26, 1907. M. s. RBATZ.

FRUIT EVAPOBATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1905.

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PATENTED PEB. 26, 1907 M. S. RBATZ. FRUIT EVAPORATOR.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 30,1905.

Vi wams MARY S. REATZ, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

FRUIT-EVAPORATOR.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1907..

Application led June 30, 1905. Serial No. 267,770.

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Be 1t known that I, MARY S. REATz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fruit-Evaporators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in frut-evaporators.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by which fruit may be thorougily and automatically dried.

Ti. e invention provides a chamber through which lgeated air is forced ancihaving mounted tierein an endless-belt conveyer, upon which the fruit is deposited at one end of the chamber and discharged from said chamber in a dried or evaporated condition.

Tite invention provides means for continuously driving tie belt convey-er and means by which the fruit is evenly deposited upon the conveyor.

The invention provides, further, two endless-belt conyeyers mounted in the dryingchamber, one discharging upon the other, the belt discharged upon conveying the evaporated fruit from the chamber, and means for driving said belt conveyers.

The invention provides, still further, means for reversible driving the belt conveyer discharged upon, the chamber having two dislcharge-openings disposed one at each end,

the reversible belt conveyer being positioned so as to discharge'through either opening, and means by which fruit may be deposited upon one of both of said belt conveyers. g

The invention provides, still further, means located at the discharge end of the belt conveyers for removing the fruit which fails to drop by gravity therefrom.

Theinvention provides also a closure and discharge-chute adapted to be positioned interchangeably one 'at eachv of the `dischargeopenings of the chamber.

An additional feature ofthe invention consists in thel opening in thcl-roof'of the chamber for the escape of vapor arising from the fruit and not 4carried from the chamber .by the hot-air forcing means.

described and claimed.

`In the accompanying drawings, Flgure 1 1s f Other novel -features are hereinafter fully rollers 15, which su port the up er part of the belt 7. Below t e endless-be t conveyer' a side view, partly 1n elevation and partly in 7 .andiparallel therewith is a similarly-convertical section, of theevaporating mechanism. In this view the parts are represented in the position suitable for driving the lower or receiving belt oppositely to the upper belt, the vertical section through the casing being taken on the dotted line a b of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top view of the mechanism, showing the chamber and some of the parts in hori-.

zontal section.. Fig. 3 is a horizontal seci tional view taken on the dotted line c d of Fig.

1- showin the wormear and some of the 7 parts connected therewith. Flg. 4 1s a transi verse Vertical section taken on the dotted line ef of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken' on the dotted line a b of Fig. 2, some ofthe parts being removed and part of the ci; amber being broken away. Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 5, the fan being omitted and the positions of closure 46, and chute 48 changed to ends of the casing opposite t-iose at which they are located in Fig. 5.

Similar characters of reference denote similar parts.

The drying-chamber may be a building of any suitable construction, preferably rectangular in form, and provided with two vertical end walls 1 and 2, having two discharge-openings 3 and 3', located, respectively, in the end walls l and 2, above the raised horizontal floor 4. The drying-chainber is provided with a roof 5, having in the comb, preferably along its full length, an opening 6 for the passage from the chamber of vapor arising from the fruit. A horizontal endless-belt conveyer, located in the dryingchamber and denoted by 7, has one end mounted upon a driving-roller 8, carried by rotatable shaft 9, mounted in suitable bearings in the Aupper ends, respectively, of two vertical posts 10, supported at their lower ends upon the floor 4, adjacent the wall 1 of the chamber. The other end of the belt 7 is mounted upon a roller 11, carried by a horizontal shaft 12, rotatively mounted at its ends in the upper ends, respectively, of two vertical posts 13, the lower endsl of which are -supported upon the iioor 4 adjacent thewall 2.A Two parallel horizontal bars 14 are sulpported at their respective ends upon t posts 10 and 13 and have rotatively mounted between them a series of horizontal transverse strucffd'endlessbelt conveyer 16, supported tal transverse shaft 18, which is rotatively mounted respectively in the upper ends of Atwo vertical posts 19, supported at their lower ends upon the floor 4 adjacent the end 1` of the chamber.- The endless-belt conveyer 16 is positioned so that it may discharge the fruit carried by it through either one of the openings 3 or 3', according to the direction the belt is driven. The other end of the belt 16 is mounted upon a roller 20, carried by and rotatable 'with a horizontal transverse shaftl 21, the ends of which arev rotatively mountedv in the posts 13.- Two horizontal bars 'disposed parallel with each other and denoted by 22 are supported, respectively, at their ends upon the pos ts 19 and 13 and have rotatively mounted between them and carriedthereby a series of transverse rollers 23, which .serve to support theA upperdpart of the belt 16, The belt 16 has its en which is adjacent the end 1 of the chamber 'disposed so as to have discharged thereupon the fruit carried by the belt?. The belt 7 is always driven inthe direction indicated by the arrow adjacent thereto in Fig. 1, said belt being driven by the roller 8 and shaft the shaft 9 being driven by meansofa pulley 24, secured `at one end therleof and connected by means of a belt 25 with a pulley 26, (shown in Fig. 3,) which is rotatively mounted upon the shaft 18 outside the drying chamber. The .pulley -26 has thereon andintegral therewith a worm-gear 27, which meshes with a horizontal worm 28, forming part of a horizontal shaft 29', rotatively mounted at one end in suitable bearings provided in a horizontal bracket 30, supported u on the upper end of a vertical Vost 31, whic also supports the bracket 32, aving in' its upper end a bearing in which is mounted the other end of the shaft 29. The shaft 29 is driven by means of a bevel-gear 33 mounted thereon, which meshes with a bevelgear 34, secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 35, mounted in suitable bearings pro-v videdin the bracket 32, the lower end of the shaft 35 havin secured-to it a bevel-gear 36, which mes es with a bevel-gear 37, mounted on a horizontal driving-shaft 38,

which in turn is rotatively mounted in ver-4 tical illars 39, supported upon the ground- The shaft 38 is driven by a driving-pulley 40. secured on the shaft' and drivenf by any suitable niotor or engine. (Not shown.) @n the shaft 12, outside the drying-chamber, is secured a pulley 41, which is connected by' a-belt 4 2 with a pulley 43, secured upon and.

rotatable with the shaft-18. When the belt 7 is driven in the manner hereinbefore described and the belt 42 is twisted as shown in Fig. 1', the belt 16 will-be driven in the dithe roller 11, shaft 12, pulley 41, drivingbelt" 42, pulley 43, shaft 18, and .roller 17. By reversing the belt 42 on the pulley 41 so as to make a straight driving-belt of it, the belt 16 is driven in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrow adjacent it in Fig. 6, thus causing the belt 16 to opening 3.

Over each opening 3 and 3 is a transverse strip 44 and 45, respectively, secured, respectively, to the end walls 1 and 2. A closure 46,. comprising a vertical plate, is provided at its upper edge with a transverse lip 47, adapted to be interchangeably mounted upon either strip 44 or 45 for the purpose of closing the discharge-opening not in use. A chute 48. is provided with a lip 49, also adapted to be interchangeably mounted upon either strip 44 or 45, and when so mounted the shoe 48 is inserted in the adjacent opening in position to catch the fruit discharged from the belt 16. A brush 50 is mounted transversely in thechute 48 and is adapted when the chute is properly positioned in one of the discharge-openings to strike the lower side of the belt 16 and remove therefrom` fruit which does not drop by gravity from the belt. Upon the outside of the en'd 2 of the drying-chamber are mounted two brackets 52, supporting between them two transverse rods 53, supporting thereon an incline hopper 54, one end of which extends through discharge through the an opening provided therefor in the end wall 2 and which discharges fruit supplied therein to the upper sideof the belt 7. A similar hopper 55, locatedbelow the hopper 54, has

IOO

one end extending through -an opening provided in the end 2 of the drying-chamber, so as to deposit fruit placed in the hopper upon the belt 16. The hopper 55 is mounted upon two transverse rods 56, havingl their ends supported, respectively, in the brackets 52.-

57, mounted one upon each of the rods 53 and 56 and bearing at their ends, respectively, upon the adjacent hoppers 54 land 55 and one of the brackets 52. the hoppers 54and 55 in the opposite direction laterally is caused by a reciprocativelymounted rope 58,- one end of which is secured to acrank-arm 59, the other end passing over a pulley 60, rotatively mounted on a bracket 61, secured to the chamber-wall 2 ,the latternamed end of the rope j58 having four branches 62, two of ywhich connectftov the Movement of hopper 54 and the other two connecting with the hopper 5 in such a manner that when therope 58 is drawnv in the proper direction bythe crank-arm 59 the hoppers 54 and-55 will be vforced onthe-supporting-rod-laterwlly in a direction such that the springs 57 will be i compressed. When the rope 58 ispermitted to move in the opposite direction by the crank-arm 59, the compression-springs 57 will force the hoppers in the other direction.l

Hot air is supplied to the drying-chai Lber by a hot-air pipe 63, one end of which is connected to a suitable furnacel 64 and the other end of which discharges in the chamber adjacent the opening 3. In the wall 1 of the chamber, adjacent the ends of the belts 7 and 16, are provided openings 65, through which the hot air from the chamber is forced outwardly by means of a fan 66, mounted on a longitudinal shaft 67, supported by suitable bearings and having secured thereto at its outer end a bevel gear-wheel 68, which meshes with a bevel gear-wheel 69', mounted on a horizontal shaft 70, rotatively mounted in a bracket 71. On the shaft 70 is secured a pulley 72, which is connected by a belt 73 with a pulley 74, secured upon the shaft 38. When the shaft 38 is rotated, the fan 66 is driven by the'mechanism just described and forces the heated air from the pipe 63l to pass adjacent the belts 7 and 16 and thence from the chamber through the opening .65.

- In operating my inventbn when the fruit is in condition requiring a comparatively long exposure to the heated air for evaporating the moisture carried by the fruit the belt 42 is twisted, as shown in'Figs. 1 and 2, thus driving the belt 16 in the direction denoted by the arrow vadjacent thereto in Fig. 1. The fruit, preferably sliced, is now'fed into the hopper 54 and the driving-shaft 38 rotated in the proper direction by a suitable motor or engine. hopper 54 will be-evenly distributed on the belt 7, owing to the lateral movement im? parted to the hopper 54 by means o1' the springs 57 and rope 58, as before described.

rlhe belt conveyers 7 and 16 'will have a very slow movement imparted to them, thus slowly'carrying the fruit in the current of heated air produced by the furnace 64 and driven by the fan fromthe chamber by way of the openings 65, the air be'ng supplied to the hot-air pipe 63 of the furnace from the exterior of the'chamber in the ordinary manner common with hot-air furnaces. The

fruit after reaching the end of the belt 7 ad- Y jacent the wall 1 is deposited by gravity upon the beltl16, by Iwhich it is carried in the reverse direction to the end of the belt 16 adjacent the- Wall 2, where it is deposited by gravity in the chute 48 and by it carried out of the building or chamber. Fruit sticking to the belts 7 and 16 will be scraped therefrom by the brushes 51 and 50, respectively. When the fruit is fed through the chamber in reverse directions, as described above, the closure 46 is applied tothe Aopening 3, the

lch'ute 48 befngplacedin the opening 3 and no fruit is fed into the hopper 55. Moisture (Not shown.) The'fruit from the' provided means by which the fruit may be carried through the chamber more rapidly and the capacity of the apparatus for evaporating much increased. In suchcasesthe shaft 38, belt 7, and intermediate connecting parts and the fan 66 are driven as hereinbefore described. The furnace 64 is operated and the belt 42 untwisted or mounted on the pulleys 41 and 43 so as to drive said pulleys in a like direction, thus through the intermediacy of the belt 7, drum or roller 11, shaft 12, pulleys 41 and 43, shaft 18, belt 42, roller 17 driving the belt 16 in the same direction as the beltv 7, so that the belt 16 will discharge the fruit through the open'ng 3, in which the chute 48 is now inserted, the closure 46 being placed so as to cover the opening 3. The fruit is now deposited in both hoppers 54 and 55, which are laterally vibrated by the springs 57 and the rope 58 operated by the crankarm 59 on theshaft 38 and having the branches 62, which serve to draw the, hoppers laterally so as to compress the springs 57, said springs when permitted so to d by the position of the rope 58 causing the hoppers 54 and 55 to be retracted laterally, thus evenly distributing the fruit upon the belts 7 and 16. The fruit carried by the belt 7 is discharged, as before stated, upon the belt 16, which belt carries the fruit so discharged and the fruit deposited upon it by the hopper 55 to the chute 4.8, by which it is carried from the chamber through the opening 3.

My. invention may be modified in different ways without departing from its spirit.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fruit-evaporator, the combination with a drying-chamber, ofmeans for driving heated air therethrohgh, two endless-belt 'conveyers mounted in said chamber so that IOO one discharges upon the other; a laterally-v ibratory distributing means for depositing fruit u on said belts at like ends thereof, means ordriving the upper belt, and means for'driving the lower be t in either of two4 direc-tions.

' 2. In a huit-evaporator, the combination i with a drying-chamber having a Ventilatingopening in its roof, of means for forcing h-eated air horizontally through said chamber, two endless-belt oonveyers disposed in the path of said heated air and discharging one upon the other, means by which fruit may be deposited upon one or both of said rbelt conveyers, means for drivingthe belt whichdis@ charges upon the other, and reversible means for driving the said other belt.-

3. In a 2frut-'evapcrater, 4the ecmhinati-on with` a drying-chamber having dischargeopenings at vopposite ends, of "an endless-belt 'conveyer mounted in said chamber so as to discharge at either of said discharge-openings, 'a closure 'and a chute having :a brush :for removing fruit from said belt "conveyer, the closure and Kchute having means for being .interchangeably positioned at said dischargeopenings, and means for driving said belt in eitherdirection. Y

4. In a `fruit-evaporator, the combination with a drying-chamber having dischargeopenings at opposite ends, of two endless belts disposed in said chamber so as to discharge one upon the other, the belt discharged upon bein(r positioned so as to discharge :at either disc arge-opening, means for `driving the belt which discharges upon the other., and reversible means for driving the, belt discharged upon. l

5. 'in -a liruit-evafporato'r, the combination with the drying-chamber having dischargeopenings at either end, ioi means for forcing heated air through said chamber, an endlessbelt conveyer mounted in said chamberso 'as to discharge through either'of said openings, an endless-belt conveyer for receiving thereon the .fruit and positioned in said dryingchainber so as to discharge upon the firstnamedendl'ess-bel't conveyer, means for-driving said second-named convever and 'means for driving i111 either direction the thirst-named conveyor.

' 6. a finit-evaporator, the combination with a drying-chamber vhaving discharge;

openings at either end, of means'ior fencing heated air through said chamber, two belits; mounted in said chamber one discharging maar:

upon v4the other the belt discharged upon ibe- .ing positioned iso as te Fdischarge through ei ther oflsaid openings, means for depositing lfruitupon 'one Ior both of said belts, .means or 'driving in either -dimection the 'belt discharging at said openings, and means for driving the other beit;

7.. ,in a fruit-evaporator, the combination 'i Witha drying-chamber 'having two discharge- Aopenings one at each end, of means for forcing heated vair through said chamber, :an -upper and flow-er endless belt Arnonnt'e'd in said (chamber 'the upper belt discharging upon the lower belt.,1late1rallyv.ibratory means for de- Sositing upon said belts and means lior riving 'the lower .belt in either direction said lower beit being positioned Vso as to discharge at either 'of said openings.

f8. In a fruit-evaporator, the 4combination with the drying-chamber having tivo openings 'one at each end, of means for fencing heated air through said chamber, an interchangeable closume for closing either o'f said openings, =tWo endless belts mounted in said -ch amber one discharging upon 'the other, said otherbelt being positioned so as to discharge througlheit'lier of said openings, means for 'driving the beit discharged upon ineither direction, .means for driving 'che belt discharg- Arin-g upon the Iother beltfand ltWo laterally-vibratory 'hop-pers 'for vdischa'rghrg Afruit upon said belts respectively.

in testimony whereof 1 artnr m'ysignature l presel-iceiof two subscribing Witnesses. v s

p f p MARY s. 'REATZ 1). House, Harrer F. Rosin 

